The Danger Of A Drive
by pinksocks
Summary: A simple afternoon drive has major cnsequences.


A/N- Hi everyone! I wrote this one shot on an incredibly long train journey to a very short appointment (the annoyance). It was only intended to keep me occupied for three hours, but I thought I would upload it for you lovely people. Please review! This is my first fic, so I don't know if it's any good or not. Thanks!!!!!

Harry sat staring out the window, watching the world fly by. Hamlets and trees went past at high speed, blurring his vision. Harry thought longingly of floo powder and brooms, but such things would be dangerous at the minute. Traveling by wizard means could cause his death. It was stupid, really. One wrong turn and look where it had got him.

……..

The sports car whizzed around hair pin bends at lightning speed. Harry sat in the passenger seat, glued to the back. Hermione had just passed her muggle driving test, and had convinced Harry to come with her on her first ride. Wind rushed through his hair, and he had to scream to be heard.

"Are you sure this isn't to fast?!"

"It's fine. I'm sure anything under a hundred an fifty mph is legal… at least I think so." Hermione's hair was whipped behind her, and she had a spark of excitement in her eyes. She looked to Harry like a speed devil told she could go faster. When Harry looked back at the road, he saw an old fashioned factory looming ahead of them. Hermione braked, but it was too late. The last thing he could remember was Hermione screaming and a deafening crash.

……..

The train slowed to a halt, and a voice came over the tannoy system.

"We have arrived at our final destination, London Euston. Please take all of your belongings with you. Have a nice day!"

Harry picked up his bag, and joined the mulling crowds filing off the train. When he finally managed to leave the train, he found himself on a bustling platform. After finding the taxi rank, he hailed a cab. The black vehicle slowed, and Harry clambered inside.

"Where you gong to mate?" The taxi driver was around thirty, with short brown hair and glasses.

"Dr Thomas Carlsed- fourteen Harley Street." Harry scanned the page, looking for the address.

"I know the place." The driver shot Harry a sympathetic glance, and Harry merely grimaced. They sat in silence for twenty minutes, until the cab pulled up to a huge manor house. Harry handed over the fair without prompting, and pulled the door open. The steps to the manor house were slippy, and Harry fought to keep his balance. The door was made out of solid oak, and it was decorated with a knocker the size of a fist. A buzzer was next to it, and Harry pushed it. A crisp voice came out of the speaker integrated into the buzzer.

"Welcome to Harley Street. Do you have an appointment?"

"Eleven o'clock, Dr Carlsed." Harry's voice shook with nerves, but he forced himself to calm down. The door opened and Harry was led into a well lit hallway. At the end of the hall was a receptionist, who motioned for Harry to come forwards. His footsteps echoed around the hall, and as he got closer the receptionist called out to him.

"Mr. Potter? If you would like to go straight up, Dr Carlsed is waiting for you. She pointed towards a stairwell, and Harry stepped forward. At the top of the stairs was a door, with 'Dr Carlsed- Nerve Specialist' engraved onto a golden plaque. Harry pushed the door open, and found that Dr Carlsed was an elderly man who looked how Harry imagined a younger Dumbledore. His glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose and his white beard was at least a foot long.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. Do take a seat." He motioned towards the squashy armchairs in front of his well polished desk. Harry sat down and Carlsed continued.

"I see that you had a major car crash over two months ago now, with damage to your left arm. " Harry nodded, and images of Hermione's still form in a hospital bed filled his mind.

"Are you still having trouble with your arm?" Harry nodded, and Carlsed nodded in sympathy.

"Well, let's do an assessment, and I'll be able to tell you the extent of the damage. If you could just slip your shirt off for me, Mr. Potter." Dr Carlsed was softly spoken, which reassured him. He reminded Harry so much of Dumbledore it was un-nerving. He did as he was asked with some difficulty.

The effects of the crash were subtle if you looked from a distance, but the closer you got the more you noticed them. Parts of his arm were yellow with almost faded bruises, and his movement was restricted. He could no longer get his hand behind his back further than around twenty centimeters, his hand would not turn over fully and he could not raise it to the full 180 degrees. His strength had decreased, too. This made day to day life difficult, so much so that he had had to move in with Hermione. He couldn't get dressed himself, (buttons were a nightmare) trying to carry anything big was a no-no and cleaning was out the window. The worst part was the fact that no one in the wizarding world knew what was wrong. St. Mungus had no idea what was wrong, and with a big help from the now fully recovered Hermione he sort a diagnostic in the muggle world. Hermione felt that guilty about Harry's condition that she had become his full time carer. She helped him with the day to day difficulties and for this Harry was eternally grateful. Hermione claimed that it was the least she could do, considering she had caused his handicap. Whenever she said this, her eyes glazed over and Harry had the feeling that she was reliving those terrible moments.

The assessment was like reverting back to childhood for Harry. Dr Carlsed asked him to move his arm into some basic positions, some of which Harry could not do. After this, Harry was permitted to put his shirt back on and take a seat.

"Well, Mr. Potter, I'm afraid you have developed Brachial Plexus, more commonly known as Erbs Palsy." From the look in Harry's eyes he knew he had no idea what that was. "There are five main nerves running down your arm, Erbs is caused when one or more of these nerves are pulled out of the spinal cord. In your case, they have only been stretched. Erbs cases can be graded from one to five- one being the best and five being the worst. I would grade you two, Mr Potter. You can count yourself lucky- I've seen cases when people have developed complete Erbs Palsy from the same kind of incident. Now, there are some treatments, operations available, but at the minute I think it would be best if we let your condition stabilize. Are there any questions you would like to ask?" The look of understanding on Dr. Carlsed's face was becoming condescending. Harry just wanted to get out. He felt like he was in a dream. His whole world was crashing around his ears.

"Its ok, thanks. Its just good to know what it is." Harry stood up to leave, and he felt Dr Carlsed's eyes on his back. Harry felt like he was floating down the stairs, out the hallway and into a street where he could talk to Hermione. Before he picked up the phone, her voice echoed in his head. 'Whatever it is, permanent or not, I'll support you.' With this in his head, he picked up the phone and dialed the muggle house phone Hermione had installed when she came to live in the house. It went to answer phone, and he said in a cracked voice 'It's called Erbs palsy. Ill be back in a few hours, talk to you properly then.' He knew for a fact that she would look it up straight away, and his thought on the way home consisted of- 'Don't panic. It's ok. Hermione will support you.' As soon as he got through the door, she had flung herself at him.

"I'm so sorry Harry. It's entirely my fault. If I hadn't made you come with me you wouldn't have Erbs palsy. I'm such a bad person." By this point tears were running down her face. He shushed her and slowly she calmed down. Harry thought she looked so beautiful, even with mascara half way down her face and her eyes red and blotchy. He cupped her face in his hands.

"Hermione, you are _not_ a bad person. You're one of the most loving and caring people I know. You were here for me in a time that everyone else shunted away from the unknown." Disbelief reflected in every millimeter of her face. "And that's… that's why I love you so much. Your caring, loving, clever, so much so that people hate you for it, funny, passionate about just about everything, and…" Harry lost his trail of thought after staring into her eyes. "Gorgeous." He pulled her into his arms, deserving himself a sharp jab, and kissed her deeply. She froze momentarily, shocked, but soon melted into him. Harry's body became a firework display, with h the Hermione the only viewer. They came apart after a long heated moment, both gasping for breath, partly to drag air back down to their lungs and partly because that was the most magical thing either of them has ever felt. Their foreheads touched as both tried to steady their breathing. Hermione buried her head in the crook of his shoulder and murmured the words that would change there lives forever.

"I love you, Harry James Potter."

A/N- So, what did you think? Please review!! I know I said that at the begining, but please? With puppy-dog eyes? If anyone wants to know anything else about Erbs drop me a review, hint hint, lol.


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